well, this year i've seen a lot of stores in key west with "going out of business sale" "at least 50% off!" and "everything must go!" signs....kind of alarming, but at the same time easy enough to find good bargains. i'm just worried that the local economy may be hurting, cause i mean this is on duval street of all places! anyhow, i spent 60 bucks today, on a 60 dollar hoody, a shotglass, and a 90 dollar peice. this was at the "at least 50% off" place, and i asked the guy about a peice in the window...he said he had the same one inside. it wasn't quite the same, but looked nice and was priced at 60 dollars. i asked to see it, and commented that it was nice, especially for lower prices, but that it had some significant flaws in the mouthpeice and carb. i was met with "well, you can get the one in the window, if youwant" i opted to do that, and later was told "well, the one in the window turns out to be different, it was priced at ninety. but for you, i'll still let you have it for 30." i jumped on the offer, and here it is: my new small dosage bowl for 30 bucks. now i dont think its worth much MORE than 30, but i think 30 is a fair price. i definitely dont think the original 90 dollar price tag is appropriate, but i still dont tihnk i fucked up. its very heavy glass...in fact the peice i was looking at before, the guy took out of the case and started beating it against the metal part of the case to show how thick the glass was, and this is even better. without further ado, i give you my new peice! to be named upon christening, either saturday, sunday, or monday when i move into my new place:
a fair price indeed. still, not a BARGAIN, but then i have to realize i'm in a tourist city and people will take you for what youve got. that and the fact that many of the people here...well....a lot of the shopkeepers aren't exactly native to the us, and are used to doing business differently. i learned a lot the past two days about going into places and being a discerning consumer, and not simply paying the sticker price. the sticker price is the ONLY price when you're dealing with corporate-set policies....for single location stores, though, who buy every item individually, prices are flexible and the sticker price is the STARTING price...it was easy to get the guy to budge a little. i'd say my prices were fair, but looking back i might have been able to do better. still, the store was going out of business (probably due to high prices on their merchandise coupled with the high real estate prices on duval, let alone anywhere else in key west)
im pretty pleased. there are tons of shops along duval that sell pieces, but most of them are crap. they'll have nice pieces in the window, but the selection inside sucks. i think many people buy them for vacation with the intention of throwing them out at the end of their trip so they dont have to fly back with a used pipe. then there are places that have NICE fucking peices, but they're really, really expensive. i looked at a few bubblers, and that was what i was most interested in today. particularly some of the double or triple bubblers....but most of the ones worth smoking were 200-400 dollars each. and i saw a nice bong i liked at the store i got this..."it is very good bong....one hundred fifty dollars....50% off for you, seventy five...no, seventy dollars" but it was only worth 60....at MOST....it was a nice piece but so small, and so pricey. i wanted a new piece as a memorial, and i got one, and i love it, but i think i got the right one given the occasion. if i get my growing all setup and taken care of, then i'll buy a new piece after harvest before the cure is done. maybe then i'll treat myself to one of the nice double or triple bubblers i've long had my eyes on. or a really fucking nice bong. dunno....but i'm happy for now!
my problem is i have a new piece. when i have a new one, i want to smoke from it ASAP, want to break it in. i have a lot of middies at home, but they're somewhat disappointing and i like this piece a lot and would like it to be a quality-only pipe. but then again, i can't always get good stuff. at least, not till i'm growing. so i'm torn between smoking mediocre shit out of it for my first time smoking the pipe, and smoking something REALLY tasty later on. either way, the first couple smokes from a new bowl taste great (lousy weed tastes palatable from new bowls, middies taste good from new bowls, and good weed tastes fucking GREAT from new bowls) but its really harsh. i really dont know if this should be used for regular old "pot" when i might be able to buy some nuggets in a week or two or can have some nice hashberry in a couple months....i know if i grow i'll buy a new piece at harvest time, so once its ready to smoke after drying/curing a bit i can have a nice new piece....but its also tempting to make this that piece. what to do, what to do...... who am i kidding? i'll break it in, either with middies or some nugs, but i can't wait that long for homegrown i dont have yet...
